Chapter 72: The Clone of Shukaku
Having decisively dealt with Kakashi, Ren continued his journey alone, unchallenged and unpursued. He found himself in a vast, empty stretch of desert, the silence broken only by the whispering wind. It was then the System's prompt finally arrived.
***Ding! Host has completed the mission: Defeat Kakashi Hatake. Reward: 10,000 Points. Total Points: 36,000. Open the Exchange Interface?***
"Not necessary," Ren replied dismissively. Instead, he focused on his primary goal. "System, I now possess Shukaku's chakra. What is the next step to create the cloned Tailed Beast?"
***Answering Host: The process is simple. Extract the Tailed Beast Chakra Collector from your personal dimension. Then authorize the system to initiate the cloning sequence.***
"Understood."
Ren willed the small, unassuming teapot into his hand from the void.
"System, clone Shukaku."
***Ding! To clone Shukaku, the following conditions must be met: 1. Sample of Shukaku's Chakra. 2. 10,000 Points. Conditions met. Proceed with exchange?***
"Proceed."
***Ding! Cloning sequence initiated. 10,000 points deducted. Host's remaining points: 26,000.***
The moment the System's voice faded, the teapot in Ren's hand began to shudder violently, as if a wild beast were trying to tear its way out.
*Damn, is it going to explode?* Ren thought, gripping it warily.
Fortunately, it held. After a final, convulsive shake, a torrent of violent, malignant chakra erupted from the spout. The stream of energy shot through the air and coalesced on a patch of empty sand several meters away. It swirled and condensed, rapidly taking a familiar, monstrous shape—the form of the One-Tailed Beast, Shukaku.
As the last wisp of chakra left the teapot and merged into the forming body, the creature's eyes snapped open. It threw its head back and unleashed a deafening, earth-shaking roar that was pure, primal power. A visible shockwave of chakra exploded outwards from it, kicking up a massive sandstorm that scoured the desert.
Ren, standing far too close, was caught in the blast. He was thrown off his feet, sand stinging his skin and blinding him. He spat out a mouthful of grit, his clothes and hair filled with the fine granules.
"Shut the hell up!" he yelled, his voice swallowed by the beast's roar and the howling wind. "Stop your damn screeching!"
Miraculously, the cloned Shukaku seemed to sense his master's irritation. Its roar cut off abruptly, and it lowered its head like a scolded puppy, letting out a soft, submissive whimper.
"Tch! Pathetic. You're just as much of a loudmouthed idiot as the original," Ren grumbled, brushing the sand from his clothes and spitting out the last bits of dirt from his mouth.
The clone merely whined again, looking genuinely委屈 (wěi qu - wronged).
Once he was clean, Ren took a proper look at his creation. It was a perfect replica—the same tanuki-like form, the same swirling purple markings, the same single, wild eye.
"It's the cloned Shukaku. Not bad. A perfect copy. If I didn't know better, I'd think this was the real thing." A thought occurred to him. "System, this thing will really only obey me?"
***Confirmed. The cloned Tailed Beast is identical to the original in appearance and power capacity. However, it possesses no independent consciousness, only bestial instincts. It is utterly loyal to the Host. The Host may seal the cloned beast within themselves to become its Jinchuriki, or summon it to battle. Additionally, the system has endowed all cloned Tailed Beasts with one ability the originals do not possess.***
"An extra ability?" Ren's interest was piqued. "What is it?"
***Self-Destruction.***
"Self-destruct?!" Ren blurted out, stunned.
***Affirmative. The system has granted cloned Tailed Beasts the ability to self-destruct. The detonation is triggered solely by the Host's mental command. The resulting explosion will annihilate everything in the vicinity. The yield is equivalent to ten Tailed Beast Bombs detonating simultaneously—comparable to a small tactical nuclear device.***
*Ten Tailed Beast Bombs... a nuke?* Ren's mind reeled. He pictured the devastation a single Tailed Beast Bomb could cause, then multiplied it by ten. The image was apocalyptic. *If I had a dozen of these...*
***Clarification: If a cloned Tailed Beast self-destructs, it is permanently destroyed,** the System interjected, as if reading his thoughts.
"Right, of course," Ren said, the terrifyingly ambitious idea fading. "But... could I clone another one of the same beast later?"
***Affirmative. However, the cost doubles with each subsequent clone of the same beast. A second clone would cost 20,000 points. A third, 40,000, and so on.***
"So the fourth would be 80,000? Damn. Mass production is out of the question." The limitation was clear, and probably for the best. The power was too immense to be unlimited.
His musings were cut short. His heightened senses, combined with the flat, open terrain, alerted him to approaching figures. A squad of shinobi was heading directly towards his position. One Jōnin, three Genin. Their uniforms marked them as Sunagakure ninja.
*They must have been drawn by the clone's outburst,* he deduced. A cruel smile spread across his face. *How unfortunate for you. I was just looking for a test subject. You delivered yourselves right to me.*
He leaped onto the head of the docile cloned beast. "Alright, you stupid tanuki," he commanded. "Let's see what you can do!"
The clone sensed his intent. It raised its head and let out a challenging screech, then slammed its palms onto the desert floor. Dozens of smaller chakra spheres shot out from its body, orbiting erratically in the air. It then opened its maw, and a larger, central sphere of dark, swirling chakra began to form. The smaller spheres were drawn into it, merging and compressing the central mass until it was a dense, black orb no larger than an egg, humming with catastrophic energy. The cloned Shukaku swallowed it whole.
***
The Suna squad, unaware of the doom hurtling towards them, continued their approach.
"Otani-sensei, what is that thing?" one of the Genin asked, pointing at the distant, monstrous silhouette.
"I don't know," the Jōnin, Otani, replied, his voice tense. "But that monster is undoubtedly the source of the disturbance. An unknown creature of that size appearing so close to the village is a major concern. We must investigate, but be extremely cautious."
"Yes, sir!" the three Genin chorused, their hands nervously moving towards their weapon pouches.
As they drew closer, the Jōnin's eyes finally resolved the creature's details. His blood ran cold.
"By the Sage...!" he gasped, his face pale with horror. "It can't be...! That monster... it's supposed to be sealed within Gaara! How is it free?!"
"S-Sensei? What is it?!" a Genin stammered, terrified by their teacher's reaction.
"Run!" Otani screamed, his voice cracking with panic. "All of you, retreat! Now! You must get this information back to the village! GO!"
The Genin, shocked into motion, turned to flee. But it was too late.
The cloned Shukaku's body swelled. It opened its mouth, and the compressed sphere of pure destruction—the Tailed Beast Bomb—erupted from its throat, streaking across the desert towards them with unimaginable speed.
*NANI?!* Otani had a split second to react. He grabbed the nearest Genin and, with every ounce of his strength, hurled the boy sideways, away from the blast path.
"Make sure the message gets through—!" was all he had time to yell.
The Tailed Beast Bomb reached them. There was no sound, only a light so bright it bleached the world white, followed by an expanding sphere of pure annihilation. The Jonin and the two other Genin were vaporized instantly, their existence erased from the world.
The shockwave that followed rippled outwards, carving a new canyon into the desert floor and hurling the lone, surviving Genin through the air like a leaf in a hurricane. The message of the monster's freedom would be delivered, but the cost was absolute. Ren's test was a resounding, horrifying success.
𝗚𝗨𝗬𝗦, 𝗙𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗢𝗪 𝗠𝗘 𝗢𝗡 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗠 𝗔𝗧 𝗚𝗘𝗛𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗢𝗪9